LATEST REPORTOne person has been arrested in connection with the blastReports say four attackers are holed up in Capital City Police Office (CCPO) building with heavy arms and grenadesArmy has been called in to take control of the situationA lot of people are trapped under the rubble of 15 Building - the blast site - which is said to have collapsed

CCPO officials say Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) behind the blastThey say the blast is connected to the trial of JuD leader Hafeez Saeed in Lahore High Court
A high-intensity bomb explosion rocked the Civil Lines area of Pakistan's Lahore city housing - the provincial headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and office of emergency police service in Lahore - on Wednesday morning.
The blast occurred in 15 Building adjacent to CCPO office, where the additional inspector general of police sits.
Initial reports said 12 people were killed and over 110 injured.
Police official Mohammed Ashfaq said the blast destroyed several vehicles. The injured are now being transferred to hospitals.
Gunshots were also heard after the blast, which shattered windowpanes of nearby buildings.
TV reports say, the building, described as the provincial headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), is said to have collapsed due to the impact of the blast .
Reports says there are many people buried under the rubble and rescue efforts were on.
The emergency ward at Ganga Ram Hospital has also been partially damaged in the blast.
Efforts are on to evacuate children from a nearby school.

LAHORE, Pakistan – A suicide car bomber targeted buildings housing police and intelligence agency offices in eastern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing about 30 and wounding more than 100 in one of the deadliest such blasts in the country this year, officials said.

The attack, which was followed by gunfire, was the third major strike in the city of Lahore in recent months, and it came amid worries of retaliation from Taliban militants facing a major Pakistani military offensive in the northwest.

Lahore is a major cultural metropolis near the Indian border, and assaults there have heightened fears that militancy in Pakistan is spreading well beyond the northwest region bordering Afghanistan.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for Wednesday's bombing.

Raja Riaz, a senior minister in the Punjab province government, told reporters that about 30 people died. Fayyaz Ranjha, a senior health official, told state-run Pakistan Television that the attack had wounded 116 people.

The explosion was so powerful it sheared the walls off buildings in a main business district. TV footage from the scene showed injured bystanders while emergency workers carried at least one person covered by a blanket to an ambulance.

Police official Mohammed Ashfaq said it was a suicide car bomber, and that the attack occurred outside the office of the emergency police service in Lahore. TV footage showed the nearby office of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency also was damaged.

Ashfaq said gunshots were heard immediately after the blast. An AP reporter saw dozens of troops entering the damaged building of the spy agency to supervise the rescue work, while gunshots were also heard from inside the building even one hour after the blast.

Earlier this year, a group of gunmen attacked Sri Lanka's visiting cricket team in the heart of Lahore, killing six police officers and a driver and wounding several of the players.

A few weeks later, gunmen raided a police academy on the city's outskirts, leaving at least 12 dead during an eight-hour standoff with security forces including army troops. Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for that attack.

The military is waging an offensive against Taliban militants in the northwest Swat Valley, a monthlong operation the army says has already left some 1,100 suspected militants dead. The offensive has spurred fears that the Taliban could stage revenge assaults.

Lahore: Gunmen detonated a car bomb near police and intelligence agency offices in Lahore on Wednesday, killing about 30 people and wounding nearly 150 in one of Pakistan's deadliest attacks this year, officials said.

At least four men with rifles stepped from the car and opened fire on the intelligence agency building, then set off a massive blast when security guards returned fire, officials said.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik suggested the attack could be retaliation for the government's military offensive to rout Taliban militants from the northwestern Swat Valley.

Lahore is the country's second-largest city and sits near the Indian border, and assaults there have heightened fears that militancy in nuclear-armed Pakistan is spreading well beyond the northwest region bordering Afghanistan. Wednesday's attack was the third major strike in Lahore in recent months.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the latest bombing. Police said one suspect was detained.

Raja Riaz, a senior minister in the Punjab provincial government, told reporters that about 30 people died. Fayyaz Ranjha, a senior health official, told state-run Pakistan Television that at least 116 people were wounded. However, police put the number of injured at 250.

The explosion sheared the walls off buildings in a main business district. TV footage showed bleeding bystanders and emergency workers carrying the injured toward ambulances.

"The moment the blast happened, everything went dark in front of my eyes," witness Muhammad Ali said. "The way the blast happened, then gunfire, it looked as if there was a battle going on."

Sajjad Bhutta, a senior government official in Lahore, told reporters that a car carrying several gunmen pulled up in a street between offices of the emergency police and the Inter-Service Intelligence agency, Pakistan's premier spy agency.

"As some people came out from that vehicle and starting firing at the ISI office, the guards from inside that building returned fire," he said. As the firing continued, the car suddenly exploded, he said.

The spy agency and police building were both badly damaged. An AP reporter saw dozens of troops entering the spy agency building to supervise the rescue work, while gunshots were heard from inside the building even one hour after the blast.

Television footage showed officers dragging a black-shirted man from the scene.

Malik blamed the attack on militants that government forces are fighting in the Swat Valley and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas near Afghanistan.

"These terrorists were defeated in FATA and Swat and now they have come here," he told reporters.

The offensive in Swat is seen as a test of the government's resolve to combat the spread of militancy, and is strongly backed by Washington and Pakistan's other Western allies. The army has said at least 1,100 militants have been left dead in the month-long operation.

The offensive has spurred fears that the Taliban could stage revenge assaults.

Wednesday's attack was the third major one this year in Lahore.

In March, a group of gunmen attacked Sri Lanka's visiting cricket team in the heart of the city, killing six police officers and a driver and wounding several players.

Later that month, gunmen raided a police academy on the city's outskirts, leaving at least 12 dead during an eight-hour standoff with security forces, including army troops. Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud claimed responsibility.

A variety of militant groups exist in Pakistan beyond al-Qaida and the Taliban, and officials and analysts believe they are increasingly inter-linked, which could make it easier to stage more sophisticated, multidimensional attacks.

Punjab is Pakistan's most populous province and home to some of its most violent groups. The Inter-Services Intelligence agency is believed to have helped set some of them up in Pakistan's dispute with India over the Kashmir.

Rescuers are searching the rubble of a police building in Lahore after a bomb attack killed at least 23 people and injured 200 in Pakistan's second city.

Gunmen reportedly opened fire on guards before detonating a car bomb which flattened the emergency response building at police HQ.

Nearby offices of the ISI intelligence service were also damaged.

The interior ministry chief linked the attack to Taliban insurgents whom troops are battling in the Swat valley.

"Enemies of Pakistan who want to destabilise the country are coming here after their defeat in Swat," Rehman Malik said.

"There is a war and this is a war for our survival," he added.

Previous attacks on Lahore, Pakistan's second-largest city, were also blamed on the Taliban.

'They started firing'

Rescuers speaking unofficially put the death toll at 35, although this figure is unconfirmed.

Sajjad Bhutta, a senior government official in Lahore, told reporters that a car carrying several gunmen had pulled up in a street between the emergency response building and the ISI offices.

"As some people came out from that vehicle and started firing at the ISI office, the guards from inside that building returned fire," he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

"As the firing continued, the car suddenly exploded."

Issam Ahmed, a journalist with the Dawn newspaper in Lahore who arrived at the scene about 20 minutes after the blast, told the BBC he could still hear shooting in the area.

A least two arrests were made.

Rescue workers were seen clambering over a pile of concrete which was all that remained of the emergency response headquarters.

They were able to drag out several of the injured. Semi-conscious policemen could be seen being carried out in blood-stained uniforms.

Debris was scattered on the road outside. Officials were seen rushing towards the buildings to cordon off the area.

The blast also destroyed several cars parked or standing on the main Mall road opposite to the police building.

Bulldozers and other heavy lifting equipment were brought in as many people were feared to be trapped under the debris.

Altercations also took place between members of the media and security personnel as the former tried to get in to the site of the blast.

I ran out of the building and saw a surreal huge ring of white smoke rise into air
Matthias Gattermeier
eyewitness in Lahore, speaking to BBC​

'Surreal scene'

Zubair, a BBC News website reader in Lahore, described hearing the explosion: "I was sitting in my office on Lawrence Road [about 500m from the site] when a huge explosion rocked our entire building.

"Glass windows shattered to pieces and the ceiling came down on the floor. I ran outside the building to nearby Jinnah Garden. I could hear gunfire which lasted for about 10 minutes and then I saw ambulance and police rushed to the scene."

Matthias Gattermeier, an Austrian reader also in Lahore, said his office building had been shaken so hard he thought it would collapse.

"We first thought the explosion happened far closer by, but the blast was just so massive," he said.

"I ran out of the building and saw a surreal huge ring of white smoke rise into air. Within minutes police and military blocked the streets. Disaster units and emergency are going in and out in every minute. The streets are full of people."

After a powerful car bomb exploded in the Pakistani city of Lahore, people in the vicinity of the blast told the BBC News website about the chaos and confusion that followed.

Zubair's office, a short distance from the blast site, was partially destroyed by the force of the explosion.

Pakistani security officials and volunteers gather in front of the destroyed police emergency response office building - May 27
The blast destroyed a police emergency response building
All the windows shattered and the pieces fell to the floor as the blast happened.

We all ran outside the building and there were sounds of gunfire. We were so scared. There is a garden right next to our office so we immediately went to the garden and hid ourselves there to escape the gunfire. It seemed to be very close by. We didn't see any gunmen - we ran to hide.

The ceiling on our top floor was partially collapsed and all the glass in the building, everything was shattered. The walls had cracks in them. It was terrible.

Because of the way the road curves we couldn't see the blast site itself but there was a circular cloud of smoke above the site.

People were running around outside because of the gunfire. They were running away from the scene because it all seemed so close.

Fasih Khan's office was just 100 yards from the blast site.

I'm really afraid you know. We have seen hell today. It's just too bad.

Thank God, I didn't see the body parts...there were gunshots
I'm just next to the Mall road. I was working and all of a sudden there was a blast. We just rushed downstairs. We thought it might be an earthquake but the guards told us there was a huge blast.

It was like something smashed on the buildings. All our windows shattered and we just ran downstairs.

Then we saw all the smoke around our heads. Then ambulances and sirens came. Thank God, I didn't see the body parts. The ambulances, police, the media were rushing towards the scene and there were gunshots.

Matthias Gattermeier describes the chaos amid the dust and smoke in the immediate aftermath of the blast.

The blast completely shook our office building. There is another building in front of us and the force was so great we thought that building had been blown up.

We went outside and saw massive white ring of smoke in the sky. Within minutes there were police, all the streets were blocked and emergency was coming in.

People close by just ran away, others were heading towards the scene. No one knew exactly where it happened because there was so much dust and smoke in the air that it covered the whole region.

Now exactly to whom this Pakistani going to blaim this time is a matter of a great curosity. Some Moron's will definetly going to blaim India for this and some will going to pass bucks on Afgan Taliban but it will be of a interesting factor as how will they going blaim their oneself.

The blast in Lahore on Wednesday (May 27) is being linked to the 26/11 Mumbai attack. The Pakistan media reports suggested that the Lahore attack could be an audacious attempt to free Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief and 26/11 plotter Hafiz Saeed whose trial is on going at the Lahore High Court.

The petition challenging the house arrest of the JuD Chief was to come up for hearing on Wednesday (May 27) at the Lahore High Court which is just half a kilometre away from the site of the blast.

Hafiz Saeed, who was again placed under house arrest as he is accused of having links to the Mumbai attacks which killed at least 170 people, is listed as one of the most wanted persons in India because of his ties with Lashkar-e-Toiba and its alleged involvement in the Mumbai attacks.

The lone captured terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasav has already confessed to his interrogators that Hafiz Saeed, the top LeT terrorist, who now heads Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the group's political front, personally brainwashed the Mumbai attackers with Jihadi literature every weekend during their combat training.

Terror struck Lahore for the third time in two months when an explosives-laden vehicle apparently targetting the Inter State Services (ISI) headquarters went off in crowded Civil Lines area, killing at least 10 people and leaving nearly 150 injured. Police officials said 10 people have been killed but the privately run rescue organisation Edhi Foundation put the death toll at 35.

So, Talibs are now attacking the mainland. Need to watch the events carefully in the coming days. Motive for this attack should be known to put things in perspective. Given the things the way the Pakistanis handle, I'm sure they will obfuscate the motive behind this attack just like they did for the SL team attack and attack on police training centre.

An indicator if this is orchestrated by ISI will be - if there is obfuscation of motive. If the motive behind the attack is crystal clear and culprits caught, then this can be classified as Taliban/Terrorist attack.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Wednesday (May 27) pointed the finger at the Taliban for the daring suicide attack on the Inter Service Inter State Services (ISI) provincial headquarters in the eastern city of Lahore and warned the authorities won't be deterred and would press hard with their current campaign.

“It appears to be a fallout of the ongoing military operations in Swat, Dir and other areas of North West Frontier Province," Malik said and warned that there would be no let up in the crackdown on these "anti-national elements". “They want to de-stabilise Pakistan. Threats have been held out by Tehrik-i-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud," the Interior Minister told reporters in Karachi.

Without naming any group, Malik said those carrying out such acts were militants who were escaping from the heat of army onslaught in Swat, Dir and Buner. "We are in a state of insurgency. There is a war inside the country and there were two options before the government either to cave in or hand over control to these elements or to confront and crush them," he said.

“We have opted for the option to flush them out,” Malik said and sounded a warning to radical groups to lay down their arms as they had no other option left. Malik said after the threat received from Taliban of carrying out suicide attacks, the Federal Government had geared up intelligence sharing with the provincial government. He said the current crackdown against the Taliban had a national consensus and even the opposition PML-N supported it.

I know that there were ISI officers in the casuality figures, but I am not going to brand all of them with the 'supporting terrorists' stamp. Most were probably support staff earning a living for their families. The real sponsors of terrorism are the men sitting in the VIP lounges and transfering money to the terrorists.

A lot of the ISI staff are just honourable men and women who joined the intelligence service to protect their nation. Lets not brand all of them using the same seal.

Rescuers are searching the rubble of a police building in the Pakistani city of Lahore after a bomb attack killed at least 23 people and injured 200.

Video:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8069467.stm
​

Gunmen reportedly opened fire on guards before detonating a car bomb which flattened the emergency response building at police HQ.

Nearby offices of the ISI intelligence service were also damaged.

The interior ministry chief linked the attack to Taliban insurgents whom troops are battling in the Swat valley.

"Enemies of Pakistan who want to destabilise the country are coming here after their defeat in Swat," Rehman Malik said.

"There is a war and this is a war for our survival," he added.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack but the authorities have been worried about possible retaliation for their offensive in Swat, the BBC's Barbara Plett reports.

Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna condemned the attack and sent condolences to the bereaved.

"We hope that Pakistan and India would join hands together to fight this terror," he said in Delhi.
UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband condemned the "atrocity" in Lahore and said Britain was "committed to standing shoulder by shoulder with Pakistan in days of need".

'They started firing'

Up to 30 people were killed when the bomb went off mid-morning local time, reports say.

Twelve policemen and a child are among those killed, Pakistani satellite TV channel Geo News reports.

Sajjad Bhutta, a senior government official in Lahore, told reporters that a car carrying several gunmen had pulled up in a street between the emergency response building and the ISI offices.

"As some people came out from that vehicle and started firing at the ISI office, the guards from inside that building returned fire," he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

"As the firing continued, the car suddenly exploded."

Issam Ahmed, a journalist with the Dawn newspaper in Lahore who arrived at the scene about 20 minutes after the blast, told the BBC he could still hear shooting in the area.

A least two arrests were made.

ATTACKS IN LAHORE THIS YEAR

3 March: Gunmen kill six police guards in an ambush on the Sri Lanka cricket team

30 March: Gunmen attack a police academy, killing eight people

27 May: A car bomb attack on police buildings kills at least 23

​

Rescue workers were seen clambering over a pile of concrete which was all that remained of the emergency response headquarters.

They were able to drag out several of the injured. Semi-conscious policemen could be seen being carried out in blood-stained uniforms.

Debris was scattered on the road outside. Officials were seen rushing towards the buildings to cordon off the area.

The blast also destroyed several cars parked or standing on the main Mall Road opposite the police building.

Bulldozers and other heavy lifting equipment were brought in as many people were feared trapped under the debris.

Distraught women could be seen looking for news of missing relatives.

'Surreal scene'

Zubair Bukhari, a BBC News website reader in Lahore, described hearing the explosion: "I was sitting in my office on Lawrence Road [about 500m from the site] when a huge explosion rocked our entire building.

Glass windows shattered to pieces and the ceiling came down on the floor. I ran outside the building to nearby Jinnah Garden. I could hear gunfire which lasted for about 10 minutes and then I saw ambulance and police rushed to the scene."

Matthias Gattermeier, an Austrian reader also in Lahore, said his office building had been shaken so hard he thought it would collapse.

"We first thought the explosion happened far closer by, but the blast was just so massive," he said.

"I ran out of the building and saw a surreal huge ring of white smoke rise into [the] air. Within minutes police and military blocked the streets. Disaster units and emergency are going in and out every minute. The streets are full of people."

In previous attacks, a Lahore police college was attacked on 30 March with eight people killed, and weeks before that militants attacked the Sri Lanka cricket team in the city, killing six police guards.

*A suicide car bomb attack outside a police station in the Pakistani city of Lahore has killed 22 people and wounded almost 300 others.

May, 27 01:22 pm

The bomb brought down a government ambulance service building and damaged a nearby office of the military's main intelligence agency.

"A car came and broke through a barrier and exploded," senior city official Sajjad Ahmed Bhutta said.

Just before the blast two men got out of a car and opened fire at police guards at the gate, witnesses said.

There was no claim of responsibility, but the blast comes as the army is battling militants in the Swat Valley region in the northwest of the country - its most concerted action to push back a growing Taliban insurgency.

"I believe that anti-Pakistan elements, who want to destabilise our country and see defeat in Swat, have now turned to our cities," Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said.

The attack came as General David Petraeus, head of the US Central Command, was in Islamabad for meetings with government and military leaders. An office of the military's main intelligence agency is also near the site of the blast.

The US needs Pakistani action against militants in its northwest to defeat al-Qaeda and disrupt support for the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Militant violence has surged in Pakistan since mid-2007, with numerous attacks on the security forces, as well as government and Western targets.

Officials have warned that militants might launch bomb attacks in retaliation for the offensive in Swat where the military says about 15,000 members of the security forces face 4,000-5,000 militants.

Lahore is the capital of Punjab province, the country's most populous and prosperous province. The country's second biggest city is also traditionally home to top bureaucrats and top military officials.

The city has seen several bomb attacks over the past couple of years but had felt much safer than other parts of the country until March when militants launched two attacks.

Attackers firing rifles and throwing grenades stormed a police training academy on the outskirts of the city on March 30, killing eight recruits, wounding scores and holding off the security forces for hours.

That attack, claimed by Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, came less than a month after a dozen gunmen attacked Sri Lanka's cricket team in the city, killing six police guards and a bus driver.